snow day

We took a "personal day" on Tuesday, and went up to the Snowbowl in Flagstaff. Eric brought the video camera and got a little footage of our day. The link to a couple videos is below.
It was a PERFECT skiing day. There was over a foot of new snow from Sunday and Monday. The storm had passed, so it was sunny and calm all day. NO lift lines!! The boys and I were the last people down the mountain at the end of the day. It was awesome having the whole run to ourselves! I kept telling them to "listen to the quiet" :)
Eric will probably upload the rest of the vids at some point, so check back if you want to watch more.


http://www.youtube.com/user/eharms325

We took a little drive throught the mountains by our house the other day. About forty fivr minutes and we were on the other side on the way to Prescott. Not a shortcut, but quite scenic. At the top, there was a little campground by a creek. It will a nice place to cool off a little in the summer.
AZ has such a diverse landscape!

I swear, this is still AZ! The campground is in the woods.

rock hunting

While in flagstaff over the weekend, I bought a book mapping 100 day hikes in Sedona.

Eric and I went looking for one of the trails the other day. My minivan couldn't make it all the way down the dirt and rocky road, so we parked at a pull out and walked to this dry(almost) creek bed. Rocks that have been softened by the flow of water make nice jewelry. There were tons of rocks here, but the sandstone is extremely soft, so I have to be picky.

It's hard to tell in the photo, but the water is actually frozen. It probably thawed out by the afternoon. After it rains this weekend, the water should really be flowing for a couple days.

We are looking forward to checking out all the little hikes in the book! I am on a search for the good rock place. Right now, the weather is chilly, but nice in the sun, and the crowds are nonexistent. It will be interesting to see how that changes as spring arrives.

forging ahead

So last week, I was busy at the new forge. G. Blue left a bucket of rebar scraps here, so I've been making letter openers and hearts. I love the idea of using garbage, being green an pc and all that. The smaller heart pendants were made from steel stock I bought, but I hope to find some thinner scraps I can use for them.
I fire up the forge in the morning to get the garage warmed up. I have been hammering for only a couple hours at a time, so I can work up my muscles:) After forging, I get to making the jewelry, either silver work, or stringing up the pendants.
I spent a good part of the day today photographing work, so I can submit my application to the Jerome Artist's Coop tomorrow. I will include the steel pieces and some felt work in my application.

Back in AZ

We got back into AZ last night, and Max couldn't wait to spend some Christmas $ on a new snake. He was debating between a corn snake and a ball python, but they happened to have a garter snake at the Petco that was perfect! The size of a full grown python was a little intimidating for him. The garter snake will only grow to about four or five feet, but still stay pretty skinny. She(?) is already quite easy to handle, and ate six little fish out of the water dish as soon as we put her in her new home. We will vary the diet with fish, worms, and maybe some mice.
I think that Joe the cat was more interested in the feeder fish than the snake.

It's kind of hard to see, but the thermometer on the outside of the window is at about 60!

back to EV

No, this isn't AZ, it's EV on New Year's Eve. What a perfect winter night. If only the whole winter in Chicago could be like that!
We visited with lots of friends, had some good meals, and even got a little ink! I was a little weirded out about coming back, but it worked out nicely, and as much as we miss all our friends and family, we know the move was the right thing for us.
Thanks to everyone for taking time out of their crazy holidays to visit with us!!

visitors

This is out of sequence-our W. family drove from L.A. the day after Christmas and spent the night. We went to Sedona the next day and couldn't pass up Cathedral Rock. The kids enjoyed searching for rocks with crystals and hiking through the woods. It was a short visit, but we are SO glad they made the long drive so all the kids could get some time together.

The kids had a blast, and at the end of our EV trip, got to spend some time together again.

It was not warm enough for a t shirt that day.

2008

I'm not at my computer, so I can't get any pics today. We are in EV for a little visit. Had fun playing in the snow last night.


Wishing every one a Happy New Year filled with peace, love , music, health, happiness...